Gordon
Gordon is a big blue express engine. He is Flying Scotsman's only remaining brother, and the cousin of Mallard, Green Arrow, Spencer and The Flying Thistle. Bio Gordon once tried taking a shortcut in order to beat Stanley to Great Waterton, but accidentally crashed into Ben's logs, but luckily, saved Stanley from crashing into them, on the track below. When Gordon was given the task of taking the Lion of Sodor to the Duke and Duchess of Boxford's summer house with Ferdinand, he ignored his advice about going slowly over the Fenland, with the result of the statue falling into the muddy marsh. After the statue was cleaned, Gordon let Ferdinand be his front engine, and they delivered the statue safely to the summer house. They have since then been good friends. One winter he, along with the rest of the steam team, had to find places to sleep, when the turntable at Tidmouth Sheds was frozen, so he decided to sleep there, in the one accessible berth, in result of him getting stuck in there the next morning, and remaining there for the rest of the day. He has since become a more sensible engine. Once, he was waiting at Kellsthorpe Station while a workman was painting a telephone box on the other platform. But the man accidentally kicked his paint can onto the track next to Gordon, just as Connor raced through the station, splattering red paint all over Gordon. When Henry saw red spots all over Gordon, he assumed the blue engine had chicken pox. In Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, Gordon says that Thomas is a silly little engine, making Thomas upset. Thomas wants to take revenge, but ends up running Gordon's express coaches off the rails, due to this incident Thomas is sent away. Later, while he is pulling the express, Thomas nearly collides with him while chasing Sailor John and Skiff. Persona Gordon is the fastest and most powerful engine on the rails and he knows it. He is extremely proud and inclined to boast. He is goodhearted, always willing to forgive, and uses his superior strength to help smaller engines out of trouble. Gordon's important position as the engine who usually pulls the Express has made him proud, pompous and self-important, with good reason too; he is the strongest engine on Sodor. Gordon's philosophy "tender engines don't shunt" meant that he looked down on tank engines and tender engines who do shunt, but after being locked in the shed with Henry and James after going on strike and before the seventeenth season, he seems to have abandoned this philosophy. Because of his rank in the social order of the North Western Railway, Gordon expects to get the important jobs and either sulks when he does not, or gets jealous of those who do. Sometimes, Gordon acts as a bully, particularly towards Edward, but following misadventures where Edward had to help him, Gordon had to acknowledge that despite being old, Edward is still a very useful engine. However, sometimes Gordon still doubts Edward is still reliable, such as the time he did not believe Edward could win a race against Spencer because "he's only a back engine" and "a waste of steam". Sometimes Gordon shows a kinder side and gives the younger engines advice, usually after he has had some mishap as a result of his foolhardiness. Some of his advice is not exactly honest, though, as James and Sir Handel have discovered. Basis According to Sudrian "historian" Martin Clutterbuck, Gordon is supposed to be an experimental prototype for Sir Nigel Gresley's A1 Pacific design for the Great Northern Railway - the so-called "A0". Gordon was then built at Doncaster Works, Yorkshire, and tested against a similar LNER Pacific in 1923. Gordon, being an experimental engine, never received a number, and was later rebuilt at Crewe with LMS underparts and a six-wheel tender, owing to various problems. Gordon has since been rebuilt below the footplate according to Stanier designs, his running plate being Sir Topham Hatt's own design. Livery Gordon is painted NWR blue with NWR red-and-yellow lining and the number "4" painted on his tender sides in yellow. Before arriving on Sodor, he was painted Doncaster green with white and black lining. In the Railway Series, he carries two builder's plates on the sides of his cab. Appearances * Season 12 - Thomas and the Billboard, Steady Eddie (does not speak), Rosie's Funfair Special(mentioned), Henry Gets It Wrong (cameo), Heave Ho Thomas! (cameo), Toby's Special Surprise,Excellent Emily (cameo), Saved You! (does not speak), Tram Trouble (cameo), Gordon Takes a Shortcut, and Thomas Puts the Brakes On * Season 13 - Creaky Cranky (cameo), The Lion of Sodor, Tickled Pink, Double Trouble, Slippy Sodor,The Early Bird, Play Time, Time For a Story (cameo), Toby's New Whistle, A Blooming Mess (cameo),Steamy Sodor (cameo), Splish, Splash, Splosh! (cameo), The Biggest Present of All (cameo), Snow Tracks, and Buzzy Bees (cameo) * Season 14 - Thomas' Tall Friend, Pingy Pongy Pick Up (cameo), Charlie and Eddie (cameo), Henry's Health and Safety (cameo), Pop Goes Thomas (cameo), Victor Says Yes, Thomas in Charge, Being Percy, Merry Winter Wish (cameo), Thomas and Scruff, O the Indignity, Jitters and Japes (cameo),Merry Misty Island (does not speak), and Henry's Magic Box (does not speak) * Season 15 - Gordon and Ferdinand, Percy's New Friends, James to the Rescue, Happy Hiro(cameo), Up, Up and Away!, Henry's Happy Coal (cameo), Let it Snow, Surprise, Surprise (cameo),Spencer the Grand, Stuck on You, Big Belle (mentioned), Percy the Snowman (does not speak), Tree Trouble and Fiery Flynn * Season 16 - Race to the Rescue (cameo), Ol' Wheezy Wobbles (cameo), Express Coming Through,Percy and the Monster of Brendam (cameo), Ho Ho Snowman (cameo), Flash Bang Wallop!, Thomas and the Rubbish Train, Thomas Toots the Crows, Bust My Buffers!, Thomas and the Sounds of Sodor, Salty's Surprise (cameo), Sodor Surprise Day, Muddy Matters (cameo), Whiff's Wish (does not speak) and Happy Birthday Sir! (cameo) * Season 17 - Scruff's Makeover, Wayward Winston, Gordon Runs Dry, Calm Down Caitlin, Steamie Stafford (does not speak), Henry's Hero, Not Now, Charlie!, The Lost Puff (does not speak), The Thomas Way, The Phantom Express (cameo), The Missing Christmas Decorations, The Frozen Turntable, Gone Fishing, The Afternoon Tea Express, The Smelly Kipper and Thomas' Shortcut (cameo) * Season 18 - Old Reliable Edward, Flatbeds of Fear (cameo), Signals Crossed, Toad's Adventure (mentioned), Duck and the Slip Coaches, Marion and the Pipe, Missing Gator (mentioned), Spencer's VIP, Long Lost Friend, Duncan the Humbug (cameo), The Perfect Gift (cameo), Emily Saves the World and Samson at Your Service * Season 19 - Who's Geoffrey?, The Truth About Toby, Henry Spots Trouble, Lost Property, Toad and the Whale (cameo), The Beast of Sodor, Very Important Sheep, Salty All at Sea, Helping Hiro(cameo), Slow Stephen, Best Engine Ever, The Little Engine Who Raced Ahead, Philip to the Rescue,The Other Side of the Mountain, Thomas the Babysitter (cameo) and Goodbye Fat Controller Specials: * Hero of the Rails * Misty Island Rescue * Day of the Diesels * Blue Mountain Mystery * King of the Railway * Tale of the Brave * The Adventure Begins * Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure * The Great Race Voice Actors * Keith Wickham (UK; Hero of the Rails onwards) * Kerry Shale (US; Hero of the Rails onwards) * Kenji Utsumi (Japan) * Kenta Miyake (Japan) * Thierry Kazazian (France and French speaking Canada; eighth - fifteenth seasons) * Bernard Demory (France and French speaking Canada; fifteenth season onwards) * Øyvind Borgemoen Lyse (Norway; Hero of the Rails onwards) * Tetje Mierendorf (Germany; twelfth season onwards) * Dafnis Fernández (Latin America; Hero of the Rails onwards) * Sławomir Pacek (Poland; Hero of the Rails onwards) * Miłogost Reczek (Poland; Samson at Your Service and Emily Saves the World only) * Amnon Wolf (Israel) * Nir Ron (Israel) * Salvador Serrano (Spain) * Pasi Ruohonen (Finland; Hero of the Rails onwards) Trivia * One of Gordon's models was on display at Nitrogen Studios, but is now on display at the Hara Model Railway Museum. Another model is in storage at Drayton Manor. * As of the CGI television series, Gordon's catchphrase is "Oh, the indignity!" * Gordon is named after a rude boy that lived on the Awdrys' street when Christopher was a child. * In the annual story, Galloping Sausage, Gordon is portrayed with a 4-6-4 wheel arrangement. * The Halloween Engine in the eighth season episode, Halloween, was recycled from one of Gordon's scrap models. * Gordon's whistle is once again Edward's and Henry's whistle, but with a lower pitch. * Gordon went through numerous changes throughout the TV series. These include: ** Season 4: *** His brake pipe is facing downward. *** In some episodes, he has Duck's whistle sound. ** Thomas and the Magic Railroad: *** His brake pipe is facing upward again *** He gained red lining on the cab side of his tender. *** His rear bogie was joined to his driving wheel chassis. ** Season 10: *** His pistons, which appeared to be broken, were fixed. ** Season 13: *** The middle sections of his driving wheels are painted black. ** Season 17: *** He gained a head lamp and tail lamp, as requested by Sam Wilkinson. *** His wheels are fully blue again. ** The Adventure Begins: *** His side-rods became silver Quotes : "If you were a nice tank engine, you'd be alright! Now you'll have to pull the next train backwards." : "Look!" called some boys. "There's a new tank engine...oh, it's only Gordon back to front." : "Hullo!" called Thomas. "Playing Tank Engines? Sensible engine. Take my advice; scrap your tender and have a nice bunker!" - Gordon jokingly mistaken for a tank engine, "Tenders and Turntables." : "Good riddance!" grumbled Gordon. "Chatting all night keeping important engines awake, who is he anyway?" : "He's City of Truro. He's famous." : "As famous as me? Nonsense!" : "He's famouser than you. He went 100 miles an hour before you were drawn or thought of!" : "So he says. But I didn't like his looks. He's got no dome!" said Gordon darkly. "Never trust domeless engines, they're not respectable! I never boast," Gordon continued modestly. "But a 100 miles an hour would be easy for me! Goodbye." - Gordon and Duck arguing about City of Truro, "Domeless Engines." : "It's not fair!" grumbled Gordon. : "What isn't fair?" asked Edward. : "Letting branch line diesels pull main line trains!" : "Never mind, Gordon. I'm sure BoCo will let you pull his trucks sometimes." : Gordon spluttered. : "I won't pull BoCo's dirty trucks! I won't run on branch lines!" : "Why not? It would be a nice change." : "The Fat Controller would never approve!" said Gordon. "Branch lines are vulgar!" : Gordon puffed away. Edward chuckled and followed him to the station. - Edward and Gordon taking about branch lines, "Wrong Road." : "When Gordon smiles, it changes his whole face. Hehehe. It is most interesting!" : That made Thomas and Percy laugh. - Hiro talking about Gordon, "Hero of the Rails." Merchandise * ERTL (normal and Gold Rail; both discontinued) * Wooden Railway (normal, talking and limited edition A Better View for Gordon, limited edition discontinued, Battery-Operated) * Take Along (normal, metallic, and lights and sounds; discontinued) * Interactive Learning Railway (discontinued) * Limited Edition Collection * My First Thomas * Motor Road and Rail (normal, talking and angry; discontinued outside Asia) * TrackMaster (normal, talking, RC, and greatest moments) * Hornby * Bachmann * My Thomas Story Library (discontinued) * Thomas Engine Collection Series (discontinued) * Mini Die Cast Collection (normal and with Santa hat; discontinued) * Departing Now (discontinued) * Thomas Town (discontinued) * Capsule Collection * Take-n-Play (normal, talking, and pull back) * De Agostini (discontinued) * Trading Cards * Tomica * Woody Capsule Series * Brio (discontinued) * Wind-up (normal, several different expressions and metallic) * Pocket Fantasy (discontinued) * Pez * Nakayoshi * Mega Bloks (discontinued) * Diablock * Collectible Railway * Motorized Railway * Push Along * Departing Now * Boss (with grey express coach; discontinued) * Padlock and Key * Switch-On Keychains * Micro Rubber Engines * Pico Pico * Minis (classic, metallic, winter, racers and graffiti; Unknown: Double Bubble) * Choro-Q * Pre-Cut Model Engine Books (discontinued) * Rail Rollers Gallery ThomasAndTheBillboard41.png GordonTakesaShortcut70.png|Gordon with a CGI face HeroOfTheRails250.png|Gordon in full CGI TheEarlyBird55.png Category:Steam locomotives Category:Tender Engines Category:Boy Category:The Main Line Category:North Western Railway Category:Steam Team Category:Male Engines